A summary of research projects and publications dealing with mosquitoes, wetlands and urban ecology (as well as other Medical Entomology activities) by Dr Cameron Webb (University of Sydney & NSW Health Pathology)

Tag Archives: summer science

“Webb’s a mosquito researcher with NSW Health Pathology, and while it may sound like potentially the worst job in the world to the rest of us, it’s important work.” – Ten Daily, 14 Jan 2019.

Every summer I’m required to juggle those pesky mosquitoes and help out with requests from media. Over the past 6 months or so I’ve responded to about 70 media requests and here is a round up of some fun highlights and other bits and pieces.

There was a wide range of media requests this summer, from morning TV through to talkback radio, podcasts and live interviews via Skype. There was once a time when the only acceptable way to do a radio interview was via landline connected phone. This summer I did interviews via mobile, Skype, and various smartphone apps! Times are a changing.

A fun segment on Channel 7’s ‘Sunrise’ breakfast show on why mosquitoes bite some people more than others; always a challenge taking in a cage a live mosquitoes to the studio, especially travelling in via public transport!

In coastal regions of Australia, tidal flooding of local wetlands often offsets any impact due to lack of rainfall. Mosquitoes such as Aedes vigilax certainly respond well and there were some very high mosquito numbers recorded in early spring. Usually, the media interest in mosquitoes starts increasing once the politicians break for the summer, this year there was plenty of interest early on!

NSW Health also issued a media release to get the community thinking about the potential mosquito impacts ahead of the summer holiday period and asked me to be the spokesperson. These warnings often prompt a different range of media interest, usually news bulletins for radio. Unlike the traditional radio interviews in which you’re responding to the host’s questions, only “grabs” (short statements regarding the topic) are required. I’ve learned there is a fine art to being concise in these statements and it pays to give some thought to what you’ll say ahead of calling up the news desk!

The usual coverage of mosquito impacts during the Australia Day holiday also popped up. Will my diet influence the likelihood of being bitten? I spoke with Channel Ten. The University of Sydney media team also put out a piece on why what you eat or drink makes not difference when it comes to stopping mosquito bites. A story picked up and republished by ABC News.

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Combining fieldwork and media requests

“Ballina council is calling in an expert to hunt for some ladies – Medical Entomologist Dr Cameron Webb will visit the area next week in search of blood sucking girls.” – EchoNet Daily, Ballina

While undertaking some work for Ballina Shire Council on the NSW far north coast, I helped out managing a few media requests associated with local mosquito problems and the work of council. It was fun squeezing in some print, TV, radio, and social media activities between the work in the wetlands.

I also participated in a “Q and A” on the Ballina Shire Council Facebook page where residents could ask questions about how best to protect themselves from mosquitoes. See here.

Mosquito-borne disease in the city

The detection of Ross River virus in mosquitoes around Sydney sparked some additional interest from media (and anxiety from local community). Coverage in Sydney Morning Herald here. It prompted me to write an article about what the actual health implications were of finding the pathogen in a heavily urbanised areas such as the Parramatta River compared to the more bushland dominated Georges River.

The issue of wildlife and their role in urban transmission cycles of Ross River virus is always a tricky one. How do you balance wildlife conservation and mitigation of health risks? Together will colleagues I wrote about this at The Conversation.

The media coverage of the Ross River virus detection provided an opportunity for NSW Health Pathology to share some insights into how we research local mosquitoes and the pathogens they’re carrying. See below for a short video from the mangroves along the Parramatta River.

One of the other stories bubbling along during the last year or so were the reports of declining global insect populations. I first spoke to the media about this issue back in early 2018. I was quoted in a couple of other stories too, clearly there was a lot of interest in this issue. This story gained plenty of attention and I spoke with various radio and print media about this challenge were facing with potential insect declines and how we can measure them. I even wrote an article about whether mosquitoes may be in decline too!

I spoke about this issue, and more generally about mosquitoes on an episode of the Science on Top podcast too.

The incredible flooding around Townsville in far north QLD created some major concern. Despite some initial concerns about increased mosquito risk, there weren’t any substantial increases in mosquito-borne disease reported. I spoke to ABC News about the potential risks.

The flooding that did trigger a big boost in mosquito numbers occurred in SE QLD and northern NSW. Local wetlands were inundated by tides and rain, resulting in some phenomenal numbers of mosquitoes in early autumn. I spoke to ABC and Great Lakes Advocate about the climatic factors that triggered this unusual mosquito activity.

Everyone was on weather watch late in the season too. A few extra downpours prompted concerns about more increases in autumn mosquito populations. I spoke with Sydney Morning Herald after a particularly wet weekend in March.

Spring is gone and with the arrival of summer comes the mosquitoes. Calls from the media inevitably follow shortly after. I have no doubt many journalists, broadcasters and producers have my name in their diaries, circled brightly in red, on the first day of summer!

It is a fun part of my job to deal with the media. Its more than just getting a chance to talk about mosquitoes and their role in the local environment, it also provides an opportunity to do some important public health communications around the issues of mosquito bite prevention and management of mosquito-borne disease.

Scorchers, sun protection, and buzzing bloodsuckers

What got the ball rolling this year was a joint media briefing arranged by ausSMC. Alongside colleagues talking about heat waves, summer storms, sun protection and bushfire, I shared some tips on protecting yourself from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease this summer. It was interesting speaking alongside Professor Sanchia Aranda, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, and comparing the ways we promote safe and effective use of sunscreens and mosquito repellents. This was picked up on in additional media coverage. Overall, there was over 300 local and international articles following this media briefing!

The briefing provided an opportunity to fill a gap in public health communication I’ve identified (and tried to fill) in recent years. Health authorities are pretty good at providing advice on choosing mosquito repellents but less so on using them effectively. Ensuring repellents are actually used effectively is the best way to increase the protection of the community against mosquito-borne disease.

In early December we held our “Sydney Ideas: Mosquitoes in the City” event at Westmead. This was a great opportunity to speak to the community and the well attended event prompted some broader interest in the work of presenters.

It was a pleasure being able to visit the studios of ABC Radio National with Prof Tony Capon, Professor of Planetary Health at the University of Sydney, to discuss with Philip Adams how urbanisation and a changing climate may influence local mosquito populations and mosquito-borne disease risk. I’m working more and more with Tony so nice to share the opportunity to talk about this initiative with him on national radio. You can listen back here. This work is strongly linked to the theme of the “Mosquitoes in the City” event and there is clearly much to learn regarding the place of mosquitoes, wetlands, wildlife and mosquito-borne disease at the fringes of our metropolitan regions under the influence of a changing climate and the ways urban design responds to the threat.

Why me? I wish mozzies would bite my friends instead!

There was another boost in interest resulting from a spot on ABC News 24 Weekend Breakfast. The accompanying online article explaining why mosquitoes are more likely to bite some people more than others then sparked considerable interest! What followed was a bunch of radio and television interviews.

There was also a follow up article at News.com.au and this was also picked up on “Kids News” who republished a modified version of the story together with some suggestions for classroom learning exercises. Nice.

There were two different experiences with ABC News. The appearance on Weekend Breakfast was great. I’ve done segments with Andrew Geoghegan and Miriam Corowa before, have always been impressed with their knowledge and interest. I really enjoy the relaxed feel on the show. Was also a pleasure working with Dale Drinkwater, the producer, who put together the segment and accompanying article.

A couple of days later I appeared on News Breakfast with Virginia Trioli. As the program is produced out of Melbourne, I had to do a live cross from the Sydney studios. I always find these interviews a little uncomfortable as I’m tucked away in a small, dark recording booth staring down a camera and hoping my ear piece doesn’t fall out! I’m sure there is an art to these but I’m not sure I’ve mastered that just yet.

With the warm weather arriving and everyone’s minds turning to summer, there is always a flood of festive season-related media stories. Once the mozzie stories started popping up, many more media outlets starting running segments.

I had the chance to visit many radio and television studios to conduct interviews, this time it was the first opportunity to visit the Macquarie Radio (home to 2UE and 2GB) for what turned out to be a relatively long (by commercial radio standards) interview with Tim Webster on Talking Lifestyle/2UE including a few callers asking about mosquito repellents, disease risk and what the “purpose” of mosquitoes actually is! Listen back via the Holiday and Home podcast.

Taking talkback can be tricky. I’m fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to do this reasonably routinely. I appreciate the opportunity to get a feel for what the community wants to know about mosquitoes, we should be taking these things into account when designing fact sheets and other communication material. There is no point in simply systematically repeating what has come before.

Live TV can also be tricky. I also had the chance to do segments on Channel Nine’s Today and Today Extra programs. These are always fun and I do find it fascinating to see how the behind-the-scenes production of these shows get put together.

As summer starts to heat up, so too does the swarms of our least favourite insects… Mosquitoes. These creatures leave an unlucky few covered in itchy red bites, while others go unscathed. We asked Dr Cameron Webb to bust some of the common myths for us. @Mozziebites#9Todaypic.twitter.com/QexMKSVFfl

Even the local newspaper, the Parramatta Sun, ran a nice story with great shot of me among the mangroves of the Parramatta River. It is also fun dragging photographers out into the wetlands. This time a fun shot of me from a different perspective other than simply standing beside a mosquito trap!

There was certainly plenty of “buzz” (or should that be “hum”) about mosquitoes over recent weeks. Great to see other articles pop up by fellow science communicators as well as the occasionally celebrity. There can never be too many ways to get the message out!

The mosquito coil conversation

At the point where I thought everyone was getting sick of mosquitoes, my latest article on the safe and effective use of mosquito coils was published at The Conversation (as well as being republished by ABC News). To date there have been about 90,000 clicks on the article, highlighting just how interested people are in the topic.

There were a bunch of other interview requests on the back of this including ABC Sydney, ABC Brisbane and ABC Adelaide. You can listen back to my chat with James Valentine on ABC Nationwide Afternoons here.

It isn’t always easy managing media requests

To finish up, I think it is important to share some of the reality of wrangling all these media requests. Most importantly, it takes time. It takes time to prepare and it takes much more time to actually do these activities.

For live television appearances, that often only last a few moments, you’re typically asked to arrive at the studios 30-40min prior to scheduled interview. Notwithstanding the travel time back and forth from studios (often very early in the morning), this means the interruption to the day isn’t insignificant. There was one day that I participated in two different teleconferences while in transit to and between interviews at ABC in Ultimo and Channel Nine in Willoughby!

The other thing is that sometimes you’ll get bumped. I was scheduled to chat on a live television program that requested I bring along a cage of live mosquitoes. This is generally not a problem but it does take time, especially when I have to actually collect field caught mosquitoes especially for this purpose. Unfortunately, the segment got bumped on one day, rescheduled for the next and then bumped again for a second time.

It would be easy to get really upset in these circumstances but it is a reality of dealing with the media. Don’t take it personally as these things are mostly out of your control. If you’re keen to engage with the media, this is just one of the many challenges you’ll need to learn to manage.

Spot any other cool mozzie media things? Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook!